Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Tips for recent grads!

I just graduated and got a job: How do I act professionally?


Congratulations on graduating and joining the workforce. Now that you're a contributing member of society, your parents are probably already asking when you'll be moving out of the house. Before you spend your first paycheck, start your new job off on the right foot by following these steps for acting professionally at work.

Organize your wardrobe
During the interview process, you probably got a glimpse of your future colleagues' work attire. If not, you can always email the hiring manager to ask about the dress code. What's appropriate to wear will vary by industry, company and region of the country. However, there are some basics for picking your outfits. You want to convey your professionalism and attention to detail. Skip anything stained, torn, baggy or tight, and instead opt for collared shirts or blouses paired with clean jeans, dress pants or skirts.

Create your own social-media policy
To friend or not to friend? That is the question when it comes to your new work buddies. You already should have changed your social-media website settings to private and avoided posting any embarrassing profile pictures of keg stands or controversial status updates. If you've listed your new company on your profile pages, be respectful and find out if it has a policy about personal social-media use. Whether it's using websites while at work or mentioning your company in status update, you don't want to risk being fired over a Tweet. Adding work friends is up to you; most social-media sites have enough privacy options that you can add every type of friend and still be yourself.

Get on a schedule
After you determine your regular work hours, keep an eye on how long everybody actually stays. For the first couple of weeks, make sure you arrive punctually, and stay at least until the end of the day, unless your boss says you can leave earlier. Some days you may stay later than others, but pay attention to the office culture. Some companies are flexible about hours as long as the work gets completed on time, while others expect employees to punch in with time cards to keep track. Bottom line: Be punctual and professional about your work hours. Schedule your day if it helps your productivity, and give yourself enough time to get through your to-do list.

General tips
  • Buy a daily planner or set up a calendar through your email or phone to help you stay organized.
  • Don't show up late for meetings.
  • Keep your cell phone on silent unless it's a work phone.
  • Don't spend all your time texting or surfing the Internet.
  • Don't bring a lunch that will leave behind a strong smell the rest of the day.
  • Don't use sick days or take unplanned vacation days right after starting.

If you have questions, observe the behavior of your co-workers, and don't be afraid to ask somebody. No matter what, it'll never be OK to steal lunches from the staff lounge.

~Susan Ricker - Carrerbuilder

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Great Article from Zig

Master Your Sales Technique
Zig Ziglar, renowned expert in sales and human potential, says he has met entrepreneurs who believe they can be successful without having any true sales skills. “I’m sure there are some who happen to have such an innovative product that they achieve a level of success never dreamed possible, but I ask, what could they have achieved had they understood how to truly help people get what they want and need?”
If you want to master your sales skills, follow Ziglar’s lead:
“Sales are what you do for people, not to people. Prospecting becomes second nature when you can implement my quote: ‘You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want. When you are truly interested in other people you will learn what they want and if they have a need for your product.’ ”
“Honesty and integrity are by far the most important assets of an entrepreneur. My mother always said, ‘Son, if a man’s word is no good, eventually he’ll be no good.’ ”
“Listening is so basic it is often overlooked. If you are so busy thinking of what you are going to say next that you can’t hear what your prospect is saying, you’re going to miss your opportunity to connect to their felt need. If you don’t know what their perception is, you can’t address their felt need. Slow down, focus and pay sincere attention.”
“Every conversation you have with customers is of monumental importance.”
Follow some important sales tenets: “Be able to easily explain what you sell and who buys it. Believe in what you sell. You will sell more when people like you. People like you when you show an interest in them.”

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Magnetic Consulting Group Update

We recently returned from our National Conference in Atlanta, GA, and have to say it was an amazing time! The team here took home many awards: AT&T Campaign Cup for being #1 pacesetting office in the nation for our client! Our Administration team was awarded with Tiffany & Co. bracelets and necklaces in recognition for their outstanding performance! And we also picked up an award for Performance Above and Beyond!

Our team rocks! Congratulations to everyone on their amazing work leading up to now. We are so proud of everyone!!!!





 At the Conference our team also pledged to help raise over $1,000 for Operation Smile this year! We will have a page up soon and more information on the specifice events we will be hosting is to follow, so keep up with us on Facebook and Twitter for more details! #magconsultgroup


We are also pleased to announce that we will be expanding again in 4 weeks!!! Exciting times for the entire company and team, but none of this could have been achieved without the effort of the collective whole. Thank you to everyone, super proud and looking forward to the future.

Follow us to stay in the loop on our upcoming events!

Becoming a leader before you are a "leader"

 

If you want to succeed, you need to learn as much as you can about leadership before you have a leadership position. When I meet people in social settings and they ask me what I do for a living, some of them are intrigued when I say I write books and speak. And they often ask what I write about. When I say leadership, the response that makes me chuckle most goes something like this: “Oh. Well, when I become a leader, I’ll read some of your books!” What I don’t say (but want to) is: “If you’d read some of my books, maybe you’d become a leader.”

Good leadership is learned in the trenches. Leading as well as they can wherever they are is what prepares leaders for more and greater responsibility. Becoming a good leader is a lifelong learning process. If you don’t try out your leadership skills and decision-making process when the stakes are small and the risks are low, you’re likely to get into trouble at higher levels when the cost of mistakes is high, the impact is far reaching, and the exposure is greater. Mistakes made on a small scale can be easily overcome. Mistakes made when you’re at the top cost the organization greatly, and they damage a leader’s credibility.

How do you become the person you desire to be? You start now to adopt the thinking, learn the skills, and develop the habits of the person you wish to be. It’s a mistake to daydream about “one day when you’ll be on top” instead of handling today so that it prepares you for tomorrow. As Hall of Fame basketball coach John Wooden said, “When opportunity comes, it’s too late to prepare.” If you want to be a successful leader, learn to lead before you have a leadership position.

~Maxwell

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Perserverance

Triumphing Over Obstacles (Part 1 of 2)



Every day, every one of us face obstacles.
Rich, poor, old, young, ugly or beautiful, no one avoids obstacles. It’s how you choose to deal with them that determines your destiny.

Obstacles even as small and simple as: A traffic jam that makes you late, Misplacing your keys (check the refrigerator?), Missing a call from an important client, Stubbing your toe, having a bad hair day, whatever.

In the moment, it can seem as if your world is coming to an end!

That’s one way to experience these obstacles, but not the way of the achiever.

In spending time with thousands of high-performance achievers I’ve noticed a commonality to how they choose to experience and triumph over obstacles—both small and big.

Since obstacles will be constant along your path to greater success, happiness and joy, let me equip you with a strategy to overcome them—simply and with grace.

4-Point Plan to Triumphing Over Obstacles

1. Get a Grip.
Know first off that you are not special (in regard to obstacles).
Achievers know that life will always be filled with travails, inconveniences and big and hairy challenging problems. Deal with it gracefully.

Now that you know you aren’t special, it is important to know how fortunate you really are and gain some perspective.

I’m honored to spend time with some of the most amazing people on the planet, many of whom have been dealt some of the most devastating of obstacles.

Two such gents are Kyle Maynard and Chad Hymas.
Kyle is a congenital amputee who doesn’t have arms below the elbow or legs below the knees. But Kyle types faster than I do - incredible! And bench presses more than I do. And I wouldn’t dare wrestle him.

Chad was injured in a serious accident, paralyzing all four limbs, leaving him with only the use of his wrists and fractional use of his biceps. It takes him over two hours to get dressed in the morning. Yet he travels even more than I do, speaking over 200 times a year in now 38 countries and 7 continents. And Chad wheeled his chair (with his wrists!) over 500 miles through the desert to set a world record. And I whine and moan about running 10 miles!

Been dealt a blow recently? Attending a pity part because of it?
Go visit a local burn unit, homeless shelter or just take a short drive over to the other side of the tracks. Party over.

In Part 2, I will share the next three steps!

~Darren Hardy